


The True Children of the Gods

by Tzapporah



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Stargate SG-1, The Kane Chronicles - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, Multiple Crossovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-20
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-09 09:40:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1144454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tzapporah/pseuds/Tzapporah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The SGC comes recruiting. What will happen when their two worlds collide? How will the demigods react to the Gua'uld posing as their parents' deities?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unexpected Visitors

**Author's Note:**

> Originally begun on Fanfiction.net. The PJO/Kane Chronicles side is largely borrowed from Asilda's Death God Alliance on FF.net. I highly recommend her work.

*BARIIIINNNNGG*

Annabeth's head snapped up at the unfamiliar sound of the front doorbell.  _That's odd. We don't generally get unexpected guests at that end of the house._  While it was true that she and Percy had earned a bit of notoriety in their chosen fields, those fields were specialized enough that most mortal callers knew how the two of them liked their privacy and would phone ahead. The few monsters that could get through the protections around the house didn't tend to observe the niceties of knocking first, and any demigod visitors tended to come calling from the camp side. Curious, Annabeth got up from her drafting table and went to investigate.

*BARRIIIING!*

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming already! Hold your horses." She said as she reached the door and looked through the peephole. Well…they  _looked_  human, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. So, one hand gripping the knife in her pocket, she opened the door. She was greeted with a less distorted version of what she'd seen through the peephole. There were four of them; consisting of a short-haired blonde woman, a very large black man in a ridiculous-looking Hawaiian shirt and fedora combo, and two middle-aged brown-haired men who looked remarkably similar except that one was wearing glasses. It was clearly the bespectacled one that had rung the doorbell. There was really only one thing she could say to such an eclectic bunch. "Hello…can I help you?"

"Um…I hope so. We're looking for someone named Percy Jackson," said the one in glasses, "We were told that he lives here."

"Who are you and why would you be looking for him?" Annabeth asked, trying not to convey how suspicious she was. It was _possible_  that these people were looking for Percy's usual services, but they didn't look like they spent much time around the ocean.

"Ah…um…good question. I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson, these are Lieutenants Colonel Samantha Carter and Cameron Mitchell, and this is…Murray. We're in need of Mr. Jackson's expertise on something." Annabeth didn't miss the slight pause before the name of the large black man, and found it a bit amusing that this "Daniel" had the same last name as Percy and herself.  _I wonder if he's a relative. Either way he almost looked uncomfortable referring to someone_ else _as "Jackson." Kind of funny, that._

"'Lieutenants Colonel'? Now, I may not be the most up-to-date on military life, but I don't think those are Naval ranks." She decided to latch onto the most out-of-place part of the encounter.

"They're not," Piped up the one called Mitchell, "We're Air Force."

Annabeth nearly choked. The idea that any organization to do with flying would be coming for  _Percy's_  expertise was laughable. "WHAT? What possible use could the  _Air Force_   _possibly_  have for my husband's expertise?"

"Husband? Mr. Jackson's your husband?" The woman—Carter—asked, ignoring the slight flinch from the bespectacled Dr. Jackson on the porch.

Annabeth couldn't help the little smile that quirked her lips. "First of all, it's Doctor Jackson, and, technically, I'm Dr. Jackson, as well. Doctor Annabeth Jackson, Ph.D. at your service. My husband's a D.V.M, what are you, Dr. Jackson?" The last she asked while gesturing the quartet to enter. She kept a surreptitious eye on the monster detector to the side of the door when "Murray" came through. The little joint creation of the Hecate cabin and Brooklyn House had saved her skin at least a dozen times. When she saw no reaction from it, she relaxed a little bit more.

"Oh…um...Ph.D., as is Colonel Carter." He replied, distractedly. His attention had clearly been caught by the house's décor, which showed to anyone in the know the true interests and histories of the people living there. Oceanscapes, pegasi, famous battle strategy maps and architectural drawings of famous buildings adorned the walls. The former hung in frames adorned with tridents, ocean life, and horses, while the latter were mostly framed by owls and famous historical quotes.

Even the others of the quartet seemed to slow down a step upon seeing the standing tribute to two gods not usually known to see eye to eye. "Well…this is…different; but I like it." Said Mitchell, endearing himself a bit towards Annabeth.

"I take it you're a fan of Greco/Roman mythology?" Asked Dr. Carter.

"You could say that, although we're more Greek than the Roman." Annabeth said with a smile.

"Um…question." Doctor Jackson lifted one of his hands halfway with the pointer-finger raised, not unlike a student unsure of how their impertinent and/or stupid question would be received. "Unless I'm mistaken, this paraphenelia is all Poseidon and Athena. Didn't those two hate each other? It just seems an odd combination to have."

"It is an odd combination, and many have thought that Percy and I were an odd pair. Poseidon is Percy's…patron, as it were, and Athena is mine. We like to honor that in our home." She sent a silent apology to her mother and father-in-law and promised them a larger mealtime sacrifice later to help make up for the fib.

"Ah…so where is Percy?" asked Mitchell. He didn't seem to be the patient type.

"He's out with his animals. He'll be back in about five minutes unless there's an emergency. You still haven't told me what kind of 'expertise' of his you need him for."

"Wait…his animals? That's right, you did say he was a D.V.M. What does he do for a living?" Asked Dr. Jackson.

"You're looking for him and you don't know?" Annabeth said with a raised eyebrow. "Now I'm really curious. He's a marine veterinarian. What possible use could the Air Force have for him?"

"Really? A marine veterinarian? Does he have a secondary degree in linguistics?" Said the one called Carter, curiously.

"Um…sort of. We both have Masters Degrees in Ancient Greek Studies and he also minored in Latin. Why?"

At the words "Ancient Greek," all but the stoic "Murray" got "ah-ha" looks on their faces, although Dr. Jackson's was quickly replaced with a slight frown. "Both of you? I wonder, could you translate what it says on this page." He carefully extracted a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Annabeth.

"It's a bit of an odd dialect, but it says, 'Follow the path of the Earthshaker, or be drowned in the depths of his domain.' Ok…not exactly a pleasant thing, but why would you be asking us about it?" She was a little surprised to see a stunned look on Dr. Jackson's face and amused looks from the two Lt. Colonels.

"That…that one line took me two weeks to translate..." said the stunned Jackson.

"Hmm…maybe we should trade in for a Jackson upgrade." Mitchell jibed at his friend.

A blue light and a soft chime interrupted what Annabeth was sure would have been an amusing scene. "Ah, Percy's coming back. I'll go meet him and let him know we have guests." She left the quartet alone in the deceptively-secure living room and hurried to gather her wayward husband from the moon pool.

She reached the pool just as he hit the surface, hair perfectly dry, as usual. "Get wet, Seaweed Brain, we've got visitors…mortal ones." It was a testament to how long they'd been together that he only spared a slightly surprised glance before quickly dipping his head back under. When next he resurfaced, his somewhat shaggy hair was plastered damply to his head.

"For me or for you?" he asked as he walked out of the pool, grabbing one of the seldom-used towels as he went.

"For you. Although if I'm reading it right, it might end up being both of us." She said, and filled him in on the rest of the proceedings for the past ten minutes.


	2. Family Matters

"Well today's certainly been full of unexpected events," said Mitchell as Mrs.—Dr. Jackson left the room. This was going to get confusing. "So…I know I haven't been with the program long, but we seem to have gone to this little interview with a massive dearth of knowledge about our interviewees. Somehow, I doubt this is normal."

"Colonel," said Sam with a sigh, "these were hardly usual circumstances. All we really had to go on to find this guy was that kid from Merriweather Prep., and all  _he_  knew was that the guy was the stepson of one of his teachers and lived near a strawberry plantation on Long Island. It was primarily through luck that we even found this place."

"Remember, also Colonel Mitchell, that of our two options, this was the only one we had any idea of how to locate." Interjected Teal'c.

"Yeah, I know, I know…not a lot of choices, but still…I don't like being this unprepared, especially when we didn't even go off-plan—" he cut himself off as the two Jacksons returned, the dark-haired young man he surmised must be Percy was toweling himself off as he entered.

"So…you wanted to see me?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Yes, Doctor Jackson, we're in need of your apparent skill in translation of an Ancient Greek dialect." Said our Dr. Jackson.

The young man waved dismissively, "Just call me Percy. How did you even learn about my…skill in Ancient Greek?"

"Ah," here was where it got awkward, but Daniel handled it manfully, "Do you remember being in the Library at Merriweather Preparatory Academy recently?"

Whatever he'd been expecting, it clearly hadn't been that. "Um…yeah, my stepdad teaches there, what does that have to do with anything?"

Daniel charged on, "While you were there, did you observe a young man playing a computer game that involved Greek writing?"

"Oh gods, that ridiculous Mythomagic-based game? Yeah, I remember that kid. He was stuck on a puzzle or something, but exact instructions on how to pass it were written right along the top. I was nice and translated it for him, no big deal."

_No big deal, he says. He translated something on a whim for a random kid that took_ Jackson— _our Jackson three months to decipher._  As amazed as he was by this development, the stunned look on Jackson's face was truly priceless.

"What reference material did you use?" Jackson asked, eagerly, "A lot of that terminology was extremely obscure. I mean, Greek is not my strongest language, but I haven't had that much trouble with a translation since…well, it's been a while." He finished lamely.

Mitchell let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Jackson was an experienced teammate, but he did occasionally get away with himself when talking academics, and Mitchell was certain that he'd almost let slip something about Ancient.

The Jackson couple, however, looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Um…really? It didn't seem all that obscure…" Suddenly the lights flickered as if a shadow had passed over the house, and the two tensed and exchanged a quick glance.

Before anyone from SG-1 was able to react to this, a young man who looked to be in his early twenties barreled into the room. "Percy! Annabeth! You're not going to believe—um…Hello? You have guests…"

"Yes we do, Nico." Said Annabeth, "If you'd been down earlier, you would've noticed them. So nice of you to join us this morning."

The young man, identified as "Nico" blinked for a moment and said, "Ah, yes. Sorry. You know how it is when I get absorbed in what I'm doing…"

_Wow,_ thought Mitchell,  _is he a bad liar._  The kid had clearly been caught off-guard and was scrambling. His shaggy black hair hung over his black eyes. He wore black combat boots, black jeans, a black Grateful Dead T-shirt, and a black leather aviator's jacket. In fact, the only thing on him that wasn't black was a silver ring in the shape of a skull. If he'd had black nail polish and makeup, Mitchell would've thought he was a Goth teen.

"Nico, these are—" Percy paused and Annabeth took over, "Doctor Daniel Jackson, Lieutenants Colonel Cameron Mitchell and Samantha Carter and…Murray." Both the young men's eyebrows quirked at Daniel's last name and they exchanged an amused glance at Teal'c's nom de guerre, but showed little other reaction.

"Thanks, hon," Percy said to his wife before turning to SG-1 and continuing, "This is my cousin Nico DiAngelo. He's just visiting for a short amount of time."

SG-1 was caught a bit off-guard by the introduction, reactions ranging from dropped jaws (Mitchell and Daniel) to mildly surprised looks (Teal'c). Teal'c was the first to recover, of course. "Did you say Nico DiAngelo?"

"Um…yes," the young man said, understandably wary after four strangers had reacted to his name such. "Why does that matter?"

"Well," said Sam, "as we were starting to explain to Doc—Percy, here. We work for a special division of the Air Force which has to do, at least in part, with Ancient artifacts. As such, some of our researchers decided to outsource their translations in a game—"

"It's that Mythomagic computer game that you're addicted to, Nico." Percy said, helpfully.

"I am NOT addicted! That game is mediocre at best. Real Mythomagic is much better." Nico said defensively.

"Oh really, then how come I've seen you and Felix playing it the last three times I've visited Brooklyn House?" Percy shot back.

"If you must know, it's because Felix is still crap at normal Mythomagic, and it's the best way to get newbies involved."

"ANYWAY," Sam put in before the argument could get out of hand. "One of the things we put in there involved a very complicated puzzle where complete instructions were written in an obscure dialect of Ancient Greek on how to solve it. The first two people to solve the puzzle were you and a young man that D-Percy, here, helped to translate. This brought you to our attention because it took our best linguists three months to translate that passage, and it apparently took each of you less than a minute. Furthermore, you, Mr. DiAngelo, did something similar with some Egyptian at a later stage in the game."

"Uh-huh…" responded Nico eloquently, "Um…no offense, but how did you get my name—wait I did register for my account with my real name.  _Merda._ "

Jackson then launched into what Mitchell vaguely recognized as the Egyptian dialect of Goa'uld. The boy blinked in surprise before answering, which he apparently did well enough to open Daniel's linguistic floodgates. The rapid-fire Egyptian went on for a few minutes before Percy got impatient. "Ok guys, could we go back to a language we all speak, now?"

"Hmm…yeah, sure Perce." The young man replied, eyeing Jackson with wary curiosity.

"Your Egyptian is extremely good. Where did you earn your degree?" asked Jackson, curiously.

The boy looked embarrassed, "Um…I never really went to a normal school...not past sixth grade, at least. I guess you could say that I'm a combination of self-taught and homeschooled."

Jackson was even more stunned than he'd been earlier. "You're  _self-taught_!?"

"Well, not the Egyptian part, technically, but a lot of other things."

"Ok…that makes me feel a little bit better. Who taught you?"

"Well…when you've lived in the Kane household for a decade and a half, you're bound to pick it up eventually."

"Kane, as in Julius Kane?" Said Jackson, "Didn't he die about fifteen years ago?"

"Sixteen, to be exact, but that's the one. I live with his kids, Carter and Sadie Kane…although Sadie won't be a Kane for much longer." He said with a sly look towards the seated couple.

Annabeth caught on first, "You didn't!"

"I did." The boy looked like the cat that had caught the mother of all canaries.

"Congrats, dude! It's about damn time." Percy punched his cousin's shoulder affectionately while Annabeth gave him a hug.

Mitchell and the rest of SG-1 felt decidedly awkward sitting in on this obviously-personal moment.

"Might I assume that this means you would not be interested in accompanying us at this time, Nico DiAngelo?" Trust Teal'c to get to the business at hand, although even he was left reeling at the mood whiplash his query brought about.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who said anything about us 'accompanying' you anywhere?" demanded Percy.

"We're certainly  _not_  going anywhere blindly!" affirmed Annabeth.

It was Nico, however, who had the most violent reaction. " _Vaffanculo!_ I've seen this movie. There is no way in any hell you can imagine I'm going to go all  _Last Starfighter_ ; the last thing  _I_  need in my life is  _more_  complications." He said while backing away, warding off the four seated on the couch with his hands. "I'm just going to go back up…to my room and get the  _cazzo_  out of here." The young man bolted out of the room a few seconds later, the strange shadow effect that had heralded his arrival recurring shortly afterwards.

_Well…that was unexpected._


	3. The Truth Will Out

Sadie looked up expectantly towards the sleeping quarters when the lights around Brooklyn House gave the telltale ripple that announced Shadow-Travel. Nico'd only been gone twenty minutes, and with the way he'd torn out of the place she thought for certain he was going to spend at least an hour running excitedly around Camp Half-Blood. She smiled a little to herself; it wasn't often the man –her man she thought, smile deepening—got happy-excited, but when he did, it was a sight to see. It was like he was the little kid he'd barely ever had a chance to be; times like that she could truly believe that one of Nico's first questions upon learning that Percy was a son of Poseidon was, "Can you surf really well?"

"So, Death Boy, how'd Percy and Annabeth react when you told—," One look at Nico's rigid posture and dark expression broke off her teasing inquiry, "What is it? What happened? Are they alright?"

"Oh, they're just peachy," He groused, depositing himself next to her on the Great Room couch with a good deal of force. "They're just going to go get themselves involved in just another level of bullshit. Well, if they're stupid enough to go, it's their own damn fault." That bit of cryptic information being delivered, the son of Hades decided to blow off his frustration by cursing in multiple languages.

Sadie was confused, but didn't expect much additional information until Nico'd either calmed down or something came up to distract him.

"And what's worse is that the damned Air Force tried to Last Starfighter me into it, too! The cazzo di Air Force—," his voice took on a much calmer and somewhat more clipped tone, "I'm sorry, I don't think he's going to be very intelligible for a while, and I think you and he—when he's himself again—would rather the little ones didn't learn some of his more…colorful vocabulary." His hand gestured in his first acknowledgement of the half-dozen young Brooklyn House recruits watching the show.

Sadie didn't even blink, used to the dual-personality of her fiancée—she still felt great thinking that word—and her favorite Egyptian god that shared his consciousness. "Thanks, Anubis. I'll bet he's cussing up a storm at you right now, but I know he'll thank you later."

Anubis winced, "Yes, I know this as well, but that doesn't make the present any more enjoyable. Anyway, I think we need to have a calm discussion of the goings-on at the Jackson residence."

Sadie nodded, "Should we take this conversation somewhere else, or is it alright for the ankle-biters to hear?"

"As of yet, I see no reason why it should be restricted information." He then proceeded to fill Sadie in on what Nico had found at the Jackson house.

"Wait, you mean to say they monitored a friggin computer game to recruit for the United States Air Force? How the hell does that work? I know you said that Nico registered for his account with his real name, but come on."

"Um—," piped up the unexpected voice of Karen, one of the more recent recruits, following the path of Thoth, "no offense, but how did they know you didn't just get lucky or look up a cheat online? What made them think that he actually knew what he was doing?"

"Look up a cheat?" Sadie asked, a bit confused, not really being the gamer-type, "How do you mean?"

"You kidding?" Kaleb, Karen's twin brother said, "There's tons of game cheat and guide sites out there. Hell, half the time Penguin Boy's is on the computer, he's on gameFAQs. He even gets in on the discussion forums on the site."

Sadie froze, eyes popping wide in realization and she turned slowly to look into Nico's—she could tell it was Nico again now—equally wide eyes. "He didn't…he couldn't have…FELIX!" Nico bellowed the last word, adding magical volume to it to make it carry throughout the building.

"Yeah…I'm sure he's gonna want to come after hearing that, Death Boy." Sadie said snidely, "Please tell me Anubis isn't going to let you hurt him too much."

"I'm not going to hurt him—much—," Nico responded, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I just want him to answer a few questions…and then maybe we should have Carter have a little chat with him about security."

Silence reigned for a few minutes in the Great Room as they awaited the excitable young man's arrival.

"What I want to know," said Shelby, who'd studied at Brooklyn House since she was three, "is what possible reason the Air Force would need someone who could speak Ancient Greek and/or obscure dialects of Egyptian, especially since you said that the dude they had with them could clearly speak Egyptian perfectly well."

"Yes…but his accent was strange." Nico mused, "He had an odd way of pronouncing his vowels; not exactly the way we say things for our spells, and not exactly the scholarly-accepted pronunciations either."

"True, but I can't shake the feeling there was something familiar about his speech pattern." Anubis chipped in, "Something from millennia ago…I'll have to do some research, and consult Thoth." Nico's mouth twisted in mild distaste at that thought, neither he nor Anubis had completely forgiven the eccentric Ibis-headed chemistry-teacher for spiking Nico's lemonade with LSD when they'd first met.

"Yeah, best do that on your own in the Duat, Anubis. You know how much Nico hates old Ja-hooty." Sadie said snarkily, "But on a more serious note, we should also ask Carter and Cleo; you never know what one of those two might've picked up."

Nico nodded absently at her suggestion. While she was a bit nonplussed at his tepid response, Sadie was glad to see that Nico had been knocked out of his rage. His face had taken on the intensity she'd come to associate with him working out a particularly difficult puzzle; she usually teased him that she could see the gears turning in his head when he was like that.

It's funny, she mused, in the last ten minutes, he's demonstrated the exact qualities that made me fall for him. He can be enormously hot-headed, just like me, but has Batman-like analytical ability. Her lips curved into a soft smile looking at the man she loved. "Now where in the depths of the Duat is Felix?"

Shelby sighed heavily, "Probably scared to face the wrath of Shadow-Man. I'll go find him." She arose from her seat and headed up the stairs to the living quarters. "I'll also let Jaz know that she might have a new patient before long."

Shelby'd no sooner uttered those parting words than the inhabitants of the Great Room heard a loud "OOF!" followed by the girl's triumphant, "Well, that was easy!" and the sounds of someone being half-dragged down the marble stairway.

"Ow, ow, ow. Watch it, Shel!" They were treated to the tableaux of a dark-haired twenty-something being dragged into view by the ear by a very smug-looking teenager. Said teenager didn't release him until they were within ten feet of the pair on the couch, where he stayed, rubbing his ear and shooting her a bemused glare. "There was no call for that, Shel. You should treat your elders better."

"Bah, you're only five years older than me and we've been here the same amount of time, Penguin Boy."

"ANYWAY, back to the matter at hand." Sadie interjected, both impatient and amused at the pair's antics. "Nico has a few questions for you, Felix."

"So I'd gathered." Felix said in a deadpan, "These 'questions' won't be painful, will they?"

"Hmm—," Nico said, a pondering expression on his face, "Now that I've calmed down a bit, I don't think so. I can't honestly say that I won't get some payback later, though, depending on your answer." He flashed a wolfish grin at the younger man.

"Uhh…right." He gulped nervously. "What did you want to know?"

"Well, Felix." Said Sadie sweetly, "Kaleb and Karen here say you spend a lot of time on game guide websites. Is this the case?"

Felix squirmed like he was eight years old again and caught with his hand in the cookie-jar, "Yes."

"And you're not just looking up information on these, are you?" Nico said, his tone mild.

"Yes…I mean, usually that's all I'm doing, but sometimes…sometimes…"

"Sometimes you share things you've found or that someone else has given you a hint on with the rest of the internet, yes?"

"Yes." Felix was slowly shrinking in on himself. Sadie had to fight a bit of a chuckle at the sight. He was acting like a little kid under the wrath of an adult even though Nico was only a few years older than he.

Nico's gaze on the boy intensified. "Now, this part is very important. Did you share the Greek translation I gave you for Mythomagic, Online puzzle?"

"Um…not exactly. I went to post it, but someone else already had. He—he said some guy in his high school library'd translated it for him."

"I see…and did you respond to his post, possibly mentioning my name?"

"Um...I think I responded with, 'Yeah, my buddy Nico got the same thing.'"

"Mmhmm…and did you ever attribute anything else you posted on this website to my help?"

"Not…directly." The young man's voice was almost inaudible now. "I did say that a buddy of mine helped me with an Egyptian translation later in the game, but I didn't mention your name."

Nico dropped his head into his hand and massaged the bridge of his nose again. Released from the intense gaze, Felix slumped a bit in exhaustion.

"Well, that explains it, then." Said Nico with resignation, "Gods, it even helps explain how they found Percy." He looked back up at the apprehensive young man and sighed. "Felix…just…make sure you never mention real names online again, ok? Our lives are complicated enough."

Sadie nodded her wholehearted agreement at that sentiment.

"For now, I think we need to focus on figuring out what in the name of my dad is going on. We'll start with Thoth and Cleo, at least until I get an IM from Percy and Annabeth with more information." With that, he set off towards the library with determination in his stride.

Sadie smiled after him. The life of Egyptian Magicians and Greek Demigods were never boring.


	4. A Delphian Call

"That was certainly….um…" Daniel said tentatively in the awkward silence that followed young Nico's departure, searching for the right word.

"Colorful?" supplied Mitchell with a small smirk.

"Indeed." Interjected Teal'c, "I must admit that I did not expect such a volatile response to my query." He turned a mildly questioning gaze towards the Jackson couple.

The couple exchanged a glance and the wife, Annabeth, turned a wary eye on SG-1. "None of us have had what you could call 'simple' or 'easy' lives." Daniel could tell that she was picking her words very carefully.  _What kind of stuff could have happened to them so young to make them this untrusting and wary?_  "And to say Nico's had it worse than us is like saying—"

"—it's like saying that the ocean is 'a little moist.'" Her husband finished off for her. "I can't really blame him for his reaction."

"I…see," Daniel said, at a bit of a loss on how to break the tension, and so grasped the first thing that came to his mind, "And I take it the creative use of Italian is part of it?"

Percy's head jerked back a little in surprise at Daniel's comment, and the incredulous snort of amusement a moment later told the Archaeologist that he'd chosen the right tack.

"Ah, so…I take it you know what he said?" He winced a little when Daniel nodded back, "Yeah…um…sorry 'bout that. He does that when he gets mad."

"Well, I don't know for certain, but I can guess." Said Sam, speaking for the first time since the outburst, "and I'm fine without a confirming translation."

"Yes, that would be a good idea." Said Annabeth, who hadn't taken her shrewd and calculating grey eyes off the quartet the entire time. "Now, to get back to the meat of the matter. Just where were you expecting us to 'accompany' you?" She almost spat the word "accompany" at them.

Daniel felt his hackles rise and sensed Teal'c tense beside him. He couldn't exactly explain it, but he subconsciously  _knew_  that they were about to tread on very dangerous ground. Even Percy's previously sheepish and friendly smile had taken on a hard, wolf-like edge.

"Well, we  _were_ ," said Mitchell with a smile, apparently trying his "boyish charm" approach to diffuse the situation, "going to take you guys out to dinner or something, first." The couple blinked in surprise; at least Cam's tactic was working in some way. "After that we were going to ask you guys if you were interested in taking part in some top-secret research for the U.S. Government."

Annabeth's eyes narrowed. "What kind of research? Why would the U.S. Government need translations of Ancient Greek?"

"I'm afraid that until we're able to give you clearance, that's classified." Said Sam apologetically. "Unfortunately, the way we were able to find you means we know next to nothing about you, and…well…"

"The powers that be don't exactly like that many question marks when they give out security clearances." Finished Cam.

Annabeth began to massage the bridge of her nose. "Let me get this straight," said Percy, "You came to recruit us for some top-secret thingy; something that you  _have_  to have some kind of special clearance just to get a vague description of." Annabeth tapped him on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. "Oh, apparently you only came looking for  _me_ , and didn't even know what I did for a living. Am I right?"

Daniel scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. We were kind of hoping to pique your interest so we'd be able to get the ball rolling."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious," said Annabeth, "But it would be unwise to go into something like this blindly—" she was cut off by the sound of a ringing telephone.

The two exchanged surprised looks. "We certainly are popular today, aren't we?" Said Percy in a forced light tone as he got up and asked his wife, "Were you expecting any calls?"

"Not on that number." Daniel didn't miss the slight hesitation before the word "number" and filed it away for future reference. "I take it you weren't either, Kelp Head?"

"Good guess, Wise Girl." He playfully sniped back before picking up the receiver. "Jackson residence. Rachel?" Annabeth's head snapped towards him and she stiffened in surprise. Percy, however, remained relaxed and his tone light. "What's up? What!?" His posture now mirrored his wife's. "I…I see. No, no, I got it. Well…it looks like a background check'd be involved, think you can help out? Yeah…thanks. Yeah, me too. Yeah, later."

He stood for a moment, back to the room and shoulders slumped in defeat, before taking a deep breath and turning to his wife. "Was that what I think it was?" Asked Annabeth, and at his nod, turned back towards SG-1 with a sudden businesslike air. "We're in. What do you need?"

Daniel exchanged surprised glances with the rest of SG-1, and once again, Teal'c was the first to recover. "Might we ask as to the reason for this sudden change of heart? Would it have something to do with the phone call you just received?"

"Yeah, 'cause that was a pretty fast turnaround. Who's that Rachel person, and what'd she say." Said Mitchell.

Percy heaved a deep sigh. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare." He smirked at SG-1's stunned reactions. "I see you've heard of her."

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare? As in Dare Enterprises? As in the company that owns most of the land the nation's military bases are built on?" Sam said incredulously, "That Rachel Elizabeth Dare?"

"Yup, that's the one." Percy said, now grinning unabashedly at how he'd managed to throw the military officers. "Yeah, well, let's just say that she vouched for you guys and leave it at that for now."

"In the meantime," Annabeth said, smiling a bit and shaking her head at her husband's antics, but nevertheless dragging them back to the topic at hand. "What do you need from us for your 'powers that be'?"


	5. Travel Times

It took an inordinate amount of cajoling, called in favors and Mist manipulation, but a week after the group Percy and Annabeth learned was called SG-1 sat down in their living room, they found themselves standing in front of dialing Stargate.

Percy couldn't help looking at the thing and being reminded of a novelty puzzle ring. The damned giant thing – _Stargate_ , he reminded himself—actually had a  _second_  giant ring covered in runes inside of it that pivoted around inside. The way it moved put him in mind of when he'd seen one of the Hephaestus girls idly spinning the interior part of an elaborate puzzle ring back and forth while in deep thought. The hypnotizing monotony of it, as well as the not-very-interesting drone of Col. Carter led his ADHD mind to wandering.

A Hephaestus child, devoid of fashion sense as they usually were – he was one to talk, at least according to 95% of the Aphrodite Cabin as well as the goddess, herself – would never be caught wearing a ring that looked like this, not with those decidedly-Egyptian symbols on them. Relations between the House of Life and the two Demigod camps had gotten  _better_  over the years, but were nowhere near friendly. Only those that had been in direct involvement with both apocalypses seemed able to more than tolerate anyone from the other pantheon. There was a great deal more intermingling between the Greek and Roman camps, but a palpable tension could be felt in the air when groups of the two met. Several, especially those whose heritage was more likely to attract monsters, Greek demigods had done as Percy and Annabeth had and gone to the only University that could present even a semblance of safety. As such, the University in New Rome had a regular, if small, population of Greeks attending. The resulting atmosphere was much akin to a recently desegregated school near the end of the Civil Rights era. It wouldn't've been so bad if the  _Lares_  didn't take every opportunity they could to stare and glare at the attending Greeks, occasionally hissing, " _Graecus!"_  at them, not allowing the Roman residents to forget the foreigners among them.

A massive  _whoosh_  of what  _looked_  like a maelstrom of water shooting out at them broke him from his mental ramblings. The sound and the apparent appearance of his favorite element – which felt  _all_  kinds of wrong to his senses – made his inborn battle reflexes kick in, causing him jump and grip the bronze pen that was Riptide in his pocket. It was experience and those selfsame reflexes that allowed him to catch himself before continuing the motion and having to explain the sudden appearance of  _something_  long in his hand. The Mist ensured that the mortals wouldn't see the sword, after all, but he wouldn't know what they  _would_  see until they told him, and it was all too much of a hassle when their lives weren't actually on the line.

He felt a little better when he noticed that Annabeth had stiffened a small amount next to him, as well. Mitchell was smirking openly at him and Daniel's eyes were raised in concern mixed with mild amusement. A slight raising of one eyebrow was all the reaction from the stoic Murray, whom he'd learned was really named Teal'c. Carter merely plowed on as if nothing had happened.

"This is the event horizon of the wormhole we'll be traveling through. The water is merely an illusion –"

_Yeah, figured that one out on my own, thanks. You can't fool a child of Poseidon with fake water_.

"—created by hologram. Simply walk through the event horizon and you will come out the other side. Fair warning, it can feel a little chilly if you're not used to it." She smiled gently and nodded to Mitchell and Teal'c, who nonchalantly strolled up to the 'Gate and walked through, probably to make certain the gate was secured on the other side. Percy noticed her glance behind him to the control room for a confirmation, which she apparently received. "Dr. Jackson—Percy—would you like to go next?"

Annabeth and Percy glanced at each other, carrying on rapid silent type of conversation that can only occur between people who've been through Tartarus, the Underworld and the Apocalypse together. Turning as one back to the Colonel, they replied in unison, "We'll go together."

Another small smile followed their declaration and Carter nodded invitingly towards the Stargate. They squared their shoulders and walked towards the rippling surface, unconsciously adopting the same posture they did when entering the Forum at Camp Jupiter when representing Camp Half-Blood.

Once he passed through the surface, Percy experienced what he could only describe as a  _whooshing, squishing_  sensation accompanied by a very distinct stab of bone-deep terror at the thought of in any way passing through Zeus' domain without permission. Although if what Rachel had told him of the prophecy she'd received was true, not even the Lord of the Sky would risk going against it.

After what felt like only a few seconds, Percy found himself in a new, but not wholly unfamiliar area. True to Carter's warning, some of the edges of his clothing had a fine, rapidly-melting, dusting of frost, to which he spared little attention. He was busy trying to figure out why this  _Alien_  world looked so gods-damned  _familiar_.

A slight  _squelch_  heralded the arrival of Col. Carter and Daniel—Percy found it easier to go the informal route than try to keep the various Doctors Jackson straight in conversation. He still surprised himself, sometimes, when he remembered that he had an actual right to the title.

"So, whadya think?" asked the irrepressible Mitchell, sweeping his hand to their surroundings like he was personally presenting them with a prize.

"I wasn't expecting it to feel so…" Percy trailed off, unsure of the correct word to use to express his unease.

"—Terrestrial." Annabeth supplied, reading him like a book as always, smiling at his assenting nod. "I mean, I know you told us that these worlds were Earth-like, but it's still hard to believe we're not still on Earth."

Carter gave the pair an odd look. "Um…yes. It takes a little getting used to…what did you think about your first experience of 'Gate travel?"

"Definitely not the most uncomfortable form of travel I've experienced." Said Percy with a smirk, thinking of his experience with Nico's shadow-travel and the Egyptian modes of transport he'd had the unfortunate opportunity to experience. He suppressed a shudder at the memory of Carter—damn another common name issue—and his all-rivers-are-the-same spell. "At least with this I don't feel like I'm going to puke my guts out at any moment."

The three humans looked slightly puzzled at this statement, but Teal'c's eyebrows rose slightly in understanding. "Is that the reason for your resistance to flying to Stargate Command, Perseus Jackson?"

Percy winced a little at the use of his given name. "Percy, please, and well…yeah, that's part of it." He hedged. After all, he didn't actually get airsick, per se, but fear of being shot out of the sky did tie his stomach in knots.

"So!" Annabeth changed the subject with only half-feigned enthusiasm. "Let's get this show on the road. I believe you had a set of ruins to show us?"

Had he mentioned before how much he loved his wife?


End file.
